Life In Blue Mars

Booo....! It's Halloween everyone! Happy Halloween! I hope you all are having a wonderful day thus far, and when you get the chance you should definitely download the Halloween Patch provided by Avatar Reality! I spent a little while taking the opportunity to take some great photo's in the new halloween'd up welcome area! I took some time earlier this morning to put together a nice set of pictures for a flickr slideshow and I hope you all will enjoy them ^__^ Once again, happy Halloween everyone!

Hey again everyone! Today ill be writing a review about the first user created city, Gridrock City. As the first user city to be allowed in, coming with the October 19th update of the Blue Mars client, Gridrock City has gotten a fair amount of attention already. Two meet and greets were held there, one tour during the first meet and greet there and alot of attention brought on by the interesting style and storyline they have in place. As a science fiction fan myself (Tertius Prime is a good example of that hehe) I really can appreciate the storyline in place at Gridrock city. Exploring a Tesla related storyline is a very unique and interesting take and I expect there to be alot of buzz about in this city especially when it comes to roleplaying. However, the storyline is only one aspect of Gridrock City's presence in Blue Mars. The architecture and modeling present within the city is very nice and provides an intriguing environment for all to explore. I've included a Flickr slideshow with this article, to show off some of the great shots within Gridrock.Overall my experience within Gridrock was very pleasant and I am excited to see it grow and develop in the future. It is surely to become one of the popular areas within Blue Mars.

Hi everyone! The past couple of weeks here I've been plotting and planning about how I would go about creating a city and what it would be about if I was able to get one. Ive been going at it double time ever since I was accepted on the NDA and received the SDK. So as I've neared my first acceptable draft of the plan I figured I would like to share it with you all and see what interest there was out there for a city of this type. Keep in mind that this is only a plan, but if everything turns out nicely I may be able to produce it. Another of my hopes through this post is that I will be attracting people who would be interested in joining a team to help me produce this. As of now I don't have much of a team, and hope to be able to build one soon. More details can be had if you contact me at metthias- on skype or Zetsumei on the beta forums.

I put together a ning to hold the idea and discussion/organization of it for now.

It is located at: http://tertiusprime.ning.com/forum/topics/tertius-prime-city-plan

Hello there everyone, as this is a very important topic to myself as well as many others I am going to try and spread this idea of mine, and I hope to get feedback from all who read it. A response from AR would be great as well. Not much to say here in this update, besides go check the thread out over @ http://www.bluemarsonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=525

Hey everyone! Tonight was the 4th meet and greet within Blue Mars @ the new Gridrock City! It was an amazing success! At peak time I believe there was at least 30-40 people who had joined us. The exact numbers of the people who were at the MnG waxed and waned for most of the event, but by the time it has ended there was about 10 of us left for a good solid 10-15 mins until everyone decided to go their own ways. Or at least most people did, probably a few people still left there hehe. Most of the meeting was spent discussing various things such as features that are currently in the works (the Mypage feature is almost ready to be released.) and the discussion about volunteer outfits and what their title should be (I voted for Martian Pro). There was definitely some talk about cities that were being developed. The scenery within Gridrock City provided me with the chance for some amazing photo's to be taken. I have provided another of my flickr slideshows below!

Until next time, Love you guys.

-Zetsumei Ieyashi

Hey everybody! This is just a small update but I thought you all might get a kick out of it. Today there was a bot test or bot upload of some kind within Blue Mars and bots could be seen everywhere! Talking to each other, displaying information and everything. Beach city was full of em, welcome area was full of em, so I thought id put together a short compilation of photos, a little joke to lighten to mood of everyone.

So for your viewing pleasure. Heres, When Bots Invade!

Hello everyone! I cant even begin to explain how excited I am, and how mutually excited the entire Blue Mars community must be to finally see this amazing development put into play! First of all, the most important thing that I should announce is the new preferences panel that allows you to change your preferences in world to High or Low quality as well as now supporting different resolutions from directly within the client. No more messing with config files my friends! From here on its smooth sailing. Not to mention! I have a big boost in FPS with this update when I switch to low, which makes me unbelievably happy.

Moving onto the next feature addition would be the option to modify the change of your face. I personally love this feature, not only because the interface for using it is intuitive, but because it's just one more step closer to having fully customizable avatars. A concise mix of facial modifications with this new feature, and the facial painting system that was introduced at the beginning of beta could lead to some very interesting and unique combinations. Especially considering the number of people that have already decided to take advantage of the facial painting feature and have created some amazing appearances.

Another interesting feature worth mentioning is when you right click on someone, you now see two extra clickable options. One is their username, the other is their display name. They are indeed clickable, but as of yet nothing happens when you do so. Nametags were also implemented within this release! Myself and many other people in the beta community were hoping this one would be coming soon and we have been pleased by them coming in this release. They are very simple, minimalistic in design and I think are a perfect addition into Blue Mars. Of course, I cant forget about the biggest additions, the new cities! Ill be reviewing each new city separately in different blog posts to be sure I get all of the important technical information out in this blog, but GridRock City and the Soswaewon Garden are sure be two of the hottest places in Blue Mars for a while as brand new content. Especially GridRock city, with which the next Meet and Greet will be held at!

Although this release is not without it's share of bugs, as I have encountered them most can be fixed simply with a relog or a change of setting. An example of, well I dont think this qualifies as a bug but more of an 'issue', would be that although the nametags are an amazing addition it seems that we have forgone our display names for our registered usernames. Although as mentioned before, your display name still exists somewhere because it is shown on the right click menu, it isn't in the nametag which is really the whole reason for having the nametags in the first place. However, as we are in beta still, in due time these things shall be fixed and as testers our jobs are to find these bugs and report them so the good workers over at AR can take care of them :D. Overall, this patch has been very helpful if only for the neat new preferences tab included in this release. With the addition of new cities, I think it would be safe to project more cities coming into existence soon and the economy to be kickstarted soon as well. Let's all hope for content uploads and such as soon as possible! :D

As always, love my followers and my readers and don't hesitate to tell your friends about my blog or follow me on twitter for smaller updates and news.

Until next time, take care all.

- Zetsumei Ieyashi, your friendly neighborhood blogger :D

Edit: Just finished organizing the new shots I took especially for this blog post! Here is a brand new slide show everyone. Please note i sized it up a bit to accommodate the UI shots. Enjoy!

http://www.bluemarsonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=475&p=3529#p3529

Hey guys, just learned that the new patch is on the way and will be here very soon! Just wanted to alert all of those following me that may not know this, also expect a detailed report on the new patch and all of its features coming from yours truly!

[-4:42-} HI there everyone! Its your local friendly blogger Zetsumei, reporting live (kinda) from yet another amazing sight that has been spotted within Blue Mars. Another Meet and Greet! The idea that Marlii had to set up some sort of Meet and Greet apparently has caught on at Avatar Reality headquarters, causing Glenn and the other staff members to organize many more for the future, perhaps even Weekly or Bi Weekly. So far this event has gone off without a hitch! Not to mention topping at least 40 avatars at one point, answers from Glenn, several staff have also decided to stop by. Andrei, Summer, Glenn, and i believe some others i saw with a custom set of clothes which would deem that they are some sort of staff have also been great. Its been a whirlwind of chat bubbles and awesome questions, a great opportunity to meet the community as well. Many of us Devs have been discussing the possibilities of the Blue Mars platform and sharing our ideas and project progress as well! As you can tell I've been pretty busy with taking photos and talking to people, but I will be continuing to update this blog throughout the entire event!

[-Same disclaimer as the last time, basically no one had any lag and the FPS here is just my old PC ^__^-]

[-Checkout this awesome slideshow full of pictures from the event!-]

Hi there everyone! This is a subject I've been wanting to write about for a while now not only because I think it is an interesting topic but because I have personally experienced this in my volunteering in Blue Mars since i got into the beta. It has come to my attention lately that although a vast majority of those who are signing up for Blue Mars are from Second Life and other virtual worlds, looking to take advantage of the future Blue Mars economy with their products and name brands, that there seems to be a group of people that when coming into Blue Mars are already expecting everything to be finished, ready, and operational. Ive encountered several people that have entered Blue Mars, noticed that it is at a basic level of production and then leave (most of the time with snotty remarks like 'this sucks'). Beta testing means that you encounter a game during its production stages, help find bugs and report them to help the production of the game along. For some it is exciting knowing that they had a part in a games early history which lead it to become successful, and others just enjoy helping out. Although I, and several others belong to the group of helping people in Blue Mars and enjoy helping the Beta along, it seems that many people have either forgotten what Beta Testing is about, or some don't know what it is and sign up expecting a full game. A forum post recently, (as well as in world I have talked to this person) has suggested several things that the welcome area could use to further assist players coming into the world. To quote directly from Nocifer's thread at http://www.bluemarsonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=451

" 1. Big Sign To Remind Newcomers That Blue Mars is in Beta.

And therefore the interface, the avatars, and the existing cities, are essentially demo models, proofs of concept, a taste of things to come. Yes, there are limited options, bugs, and other inadequecies, but many of these are being developed and/or will be added in the near future. That's why it's called Beta. That's why we're here. To beta-test the buggery out of it.


2. A Roadmap Of Future Updates/Releases/Patches

So newcomers have an idea what to expect next. This also creates a sense of anticipation in members, and confidence in the developers. There is an awful lot of information out there, all over the place, so we need something that is immediately obvious - like a timetable of projected updates or list of what is presently being worked on that everyone can refer to, rather than third-hand hearsay that such-and-such will be introduced next week. "

I think that these two suggestions should be in high demand and very high up on the workload list over at AR for the new welcome center, or atleast a quick signboard for the current one that we are utilizing. This type of sign would not only re-instill the fact that Blue Mars is still beta, but for those who are unsure of what beta is or what to expect coming out of Blue Mars currently they could rely on this board to welcome them into the game with that specific knowledge.

Seeing as how Blue Mars has the potential to draw in crowds not only from the currently successful Second Life, but from other mediums that Second LIfe has failed in attracting, take the extra steps to assure the new members what they are going into and what to expect upfront I think would be a very smart idea.

Thanks for reading guys.

Lots of love, Zetsumei Ieyashi

PS: I want that new patch! Grrr! Lol.

Hey hey everyone! Just put in a new poll, be sure to participate in it! Would love to see what you all think, and please spread the word to your friends if you enjoy this blog! :D

-Love ya guys, Zetsumei Ieyashi

As soon as you come into Blue Mars, one of the first things that you will notice are the several boards ahead of you that upon clicking them will allow you to travel tot he currently available regions, amongst those boards are two games. The Waterfall Game which involves riding a ship through rings, and Golf of which's name is self explanatory. The later of which I will be reviewing right now.

I like the golf simulation presented to us by Blue Mars because it is a testament to the possibilities present within the platform. With the ability to play both single and multi player matches, as well as a choice of playing one hole matches or three hole matches, Golf in Blue Mars is a very competent rendition of this popular sport.Playing golf in blue mars is just like playing golf but in HD quality brought to us by the CryEngine. I bet the folks over at Crytek never thought golf would be played with such a powerful engine eh? Although when I had played the game, upon striking the ball and making my first hole, it was not as refined as lets say, a PlayStation game would be, but it was indeed comparable to such on a lower detailed scale in functions. To those on lower end machines(and possibly higher grade machines) that can still play Blue Mars, i experienced that the ball looks slightly off from where you hit it, but being that this is a beta and the options given are pretty much only to display the possibilities of the platform, i would still give golf in blue mars a very high rating. For those who are looking for a good pass time in Blue Mars I would recommend that you give golf a try. Out of 10, i would rate it a 6 mostly because of its success in displaying how useful this platform really will be for developers in the future, but also because it is indeed some fun. Below I have posted a flickr slide show of some nice shots within the golf simulator for your enjoyment ^__^

Until next time, take care all, and love my followers!

-Zetsumei Ieyashi

Edit: Added the new flickr ^__^

Content creation within Blue Mars seems to be a very hot topic right now, what with one of my previous posts showing that it is being grossly misrepresented in other blogging venue's as well. However, as a fellow BM member said to me on a thread, "Don't Feed The Troll." and I have to agree. I got my word out on their first article i was shown, and everyone else seems to have taken care of the second one (which is just as bad). The issue that seems to be on a few minds is the fact that creation is entirely out of game. Ive met some SL creators that rue this idea so much they feel it is necessary for them to forget they ever heard about Blue Mars in the first place. That extent of disapproval for the system seems to be wholly unnecessary. What is one thing people have been bothering LL about for since the beginning of SL? A backup of your own personal assets. People have done just about anything (some even illegally) to get their own objects out of world which has lead to both a set of good tools like Second Inventory and the other spectrum with software like CryoLife, CopyBot and a number of other things that threaten product safety, although provide a means of exporting objects if you only take advantage of it legally. What so many creators should be GLAD about when talking about BM's creation system is that all of your own content is stored on YOUR own hard drive, and not shoddy LL's unstable network. This means no more loss of content, as well as already having the original on your PC, backups are unnecessary unless you wish to copy your 3DS files or your Maya files and so on and so forth. Another issue that many people seem to be latching onto is pricing for the modeling programs available. Now some people would make you believe (PixPol) that since 3DS and Maya and other rather expensive programs are supported by BM that they are the only programs supported by BM. And this is wholly and categorically untrue. Blender, which some would argue is just as powerful as 3DS or Maya, and even in some cases possibly more powerful. Blender is free, highly documented, and anyone with the time and dedication can pick up this amazingly flexible platform and create amazing content. Google Sketchup, another free option has an amazing user interface, some very interesting tool sets and ontop of that has many good tutorials, access to the google warehouse (thousands of objects) and is equally supported by BM for creation. Ive personally used Google Sketchup (as well as 3Ds Max) and i can ensure you that they are indeed supported. So where as some people may be worried that Blue Mars is headed down a corporate restricted path, all I would ask of those people is to take the time to thoroughly research Blue Mars' wiki, Blue Mars' Forums (beta and dev.) and even further more go in world and TALK to the many INDIVIDUAL creators that are so excited to get to work.

Until next time, love you guys.

-Zetsumei Ieyashi

So after some fudging around a few sites and toying around with a few options i found a better suiting theme for the blog as well as deciding that i should get a twitter feed as most people seem to be using them these days. You can plan on me keeping you all up to date either on this blog or on my twitter account, which hopefully will get followers soon enough :D

Take care guys, would love to hear from you.

To my four current followers, and anyone who is paying attention to this blog either from seeing me in world, seeing my or rocks thread about this issue needs to immediately go over to this blog post and show them how insanely wrong they are about their assumptions and wildly misconstrued notions about Blue Mars.

This is the link to the blog and if i were you I would go there and give them a piece of my mind, of which i already did.

http://www.pixelsandpolicy.com/pixels_and_policy/2009/10/blue-mars-content-monopoly.html

My comment being:

" PixPol please locate the solid facts in quote that state according to your recollection of " content creation for individual users is officially discouraged" Ive been VERY active within the community, spoken with many AR employees, one in specific who is working on the tools to ALLOW INDEPENDENT DEVELOPERS to upload into blue mars. Your claims here are so outrageous that they could almost be considered slanderous or libelous just in their assumptions. I am an independent developer, as are a large part of BM residents who are nowhere near a corporation or company of any size and especially no where near what you are suggesting here. Companies will be able to have a high profile existance in BM but in the same manner that an independant city developer will be able to. I completely agree with Rock here, and in my own opinion this is a horrible piece that has misconstrued any currently known news to the worst that it could be twisted to.

Misrepresentation at this length makes me sick, you wouldnt by any chance be a politician too would you? "

Sickening. Lets be sure this person sees the truth.

Adult Content In Blue Mars (My Opinion)

Well now. This is a subject Ive been wanting to tackle for quite a while, there is a topic on it already in the beta forums but it is fairly crowded and i would love to just get my opinion off of my chest here on my blog and then see what other people think about it. Lately in this thread i have been seeing people who are comparing SL to BM in the terms of how adult content is or should be handled. There are those that are for adult content and those that are against adult content as there always is in debates like this no matter the world that it is in. Those who are against adult content are defending the many other ways that BM could be enjoyed without the adult content aspect added into the game, and those who are for adult content are explaining about how even though many people are not interested in the adult content, it is indeed a very big market to consider not only for AR's sake to boost BM's economy, but for how they wish to take it on in the form of users experiencing it through their platform. There are good arguments on both sides, reading the threads on the official beta forums will point that out, but personally i think this could be handled very easily and avoid tragedies like what LL has recently brought into play for second life. In my opinion I believe that before BM gets too wrapped up in this subject and trying to figure out how to deal with it, there is a very simple approach that should be taken. AR should leave the handling of adult content to the discretion of the paying city owners. This alleviates AR from any legal bounds to be jumped or problems to be dealt with outside of their own personally owned areas. Doing this would be an extremely smart move in AR's case, the 'adult' community / market would then come into BM and give the economy its blessing ( xD ) , as well as allowing those who don't wish to experience it a way of knowing that "Hey some places do have it, but I can just go to the other areas that don't and still enjoy myself." .I don't think it is fair or wise for AR to block out adult content because there may be users who wish to experience the adult side, as well as the possible influx of cash it could provide the economy.

Anyways, it's been great and that's my opinion on this subject. Would love to hear from people on it.

Wow what to say to you guys! I logged on today to see that i got my first three followers! Yaaay! Thanks guys, just wanted to show my appreciation for the support of this blog. I hope to provide you all with genuine good news and reviews about Blue Mars as well as any projects that I may be involved in. Thanks to all who either commented on my blog or told me in world that they enjoyed my reporting of the first meet and greet!

In the future i might be holding promotions or events that may bring in BLU's or an exclusive piece of art from yours truely.

Thanks again all, and dont forget to tell your friends!

The Meet and Greet in Shade City!

[-5:18 PM-] Wow! This event is truly amazing. The first time that so many people had gathered together in one city! So many conversations going on at once, so many people sitting in the chairs and standing around the area. The chat bubbles were clogging up the screen a bit as you will see in the pictures but it was indeed truly amazing. Ive taken many screenshots so people can see just how epic this event is. AS I had speculated in my Shade City review, this city is indeed the perfect place for a social event! I added the flicker album to the bottom of this post for all to read! The event is still going on and just might go on for a few more hours, ill edit this post with anymore news on it. Lets see if Glenn makes an appearance!

[-5:54-] The Event has been a great success, things are calming down a little bit. Unfortunately Summer Studio (Tiffany Nahinu from AR) had stated that since AR's building was closed over the weekends that there wont be logs officially until Monday, but either way it was an amazing day! Will have to hear from Glenn and the others later on. Thanks all who read this and spread the word! ^__^

[-6:34-] The event is over, and was awesome. everyone is winded down, cept for a few stragglers left, there will be hangovers in the morning, but it was fun and worth it. xD Take care guys, until the next time i blog.

[Please note that the FPS is just my old computer, people at the event were very vocal about the event being lagless and not hurting FPS much at all. Simply amazing for the amount of people there]

Two words can easily sum up Venezia. Absolutely Beautiful. Although this city may be a bit harder on the graphics card than other cities are, its definitely worth the visit. Venezia is the most beautiful and most interactive city available at the current moment (besides Beach City) . Venezia' special 'ESC' key travelling system is one of its biggest attractions. Destinations 1-9 on the number pad will take any willing explorer throughout the amazing (and still under construction) city of Venezia. And boy is it a sight to be seen, the modeling is top notch on the buildings, the view is absolutely amazing and in certain parts the features are quite fun and to be enjoyed. Venezia really is a prime example for the possibilities that the Blue Mars platform offers. Venezia will be especially popular considering the promotion that they will be offering for storefronts to be rented with no upfront cost and only a percentage taken from sales to support the rent. There are many exciting areas to view in Venezia even considering that it is under construction. The entrance area is absolutely beautiful, i could see some romantic pictures being taken on the bridge straightforward from the entrance point. And beyond that is another area that has terminals in it, one of which will teleport you to different points in the city, as well as signs advertising it's attractions such as the up and coming Tomb and the shopfronts. A little more exploring around will lead you to areas that hopefully soon will be explorable. Such as a bar, several places that could be used as social areas and even a Marina that allows you to boat around the cities waterways. Not to mention the unfinished Boccie courts that I imagine will be great fun. For those who are keen for adventure, they could explore the area trying to find various treasure orbs of which will tell you that mysterious prizes may be coming in the future for them, the telescope game which involves you looking around the city for spots it details for you to find for points is also a fun minigame provided to tourists. Those wishing to be less bound to the beaten trail can use the 'ESC' key to fly around and have an unprecedented look throughout the city unrestricted by where the avatar can physically walk. Depending on how far you choose to go, you will run into the unfinished areas of the city which if you got that far will show you how big Venezia plans to be. I do believe i saw hints of a Monorail or Train system as well. All in all, Venezia upon finished product will be perhaps one of the most amazingly detailed and interactive cities available, no doubt being a popular destination for Blue Mars residents new and old. It is indeed a must see destination within Blue Mars.

Coming Soon: Pictures!

Beach City!

Wow. Just where to start when talking about Beach City? Beach City is perhaps the most expansive city currently able to be explored and is one that definitely should be explored because of the features that it boasts which give you a preview into the future of Blue Mars. First of all, upon entering Beach City it becomes obvious that the devs who worked on this city took the time to take detail into account. The area is very well built and I can tell that it will be a popular spot once Blue Mars is live. It is an absolute must for anyone who is coming into Beach City to head over to the hotel to check out the demo apartment that has been set up there. The Apartment that is on display within the hotel gives users a chance to experience what owning an apartment would be like and a chance to use the tools provided to you within one. The functionality within the apartment was very smooth and even the most inexperienced users will be able to grasp it. Although future functionality of the apartments is unknown, if scripted items are allowed to be used I could forsee a lively set of functions that one would be able to do within their apartments. Especially with the HUD being flash based, playing games within BM in ones own apartment may not be so farfetched. Another feature that one must check out is the shop that is open in Beach City. Although still apparently in beta form the functionality that is provided by the shop is going to be excellent when made a reality. Shops in Blue Mars will completely blow shops in any other virtual world out of the water. The ability to preview what you are buying in three dimensions before you decide to buy it is a great idea and something that will assist the consumer in picking the right product for them. All in all, the experience that I had within Beach City was very pleasant and only left me wishing that the next patches would come out faster! Beach City is a must-see destination within Blue Mars.

Coming Soon: Pictures!

The first place that I will be writing about in this brand-spanking-new blog will be Shade City!.

First things first. Shade City is a unique city with a nice feel to it. This becomes apparent when you first poof into the big entrance building. The unique style of the entrance building and the area within it surely strikes me as a place I would hang out in even in real life. One gets an amazing look at the ocean once they begin to walk around and take in the scenery. An interesting feature that I really enjoyed was the fact that when you walked up to the second level of the building the sun set and turned into a beautiful night sky. This feature I believe will be an amazing asset, useful to many city owners who want to have dynamic environments. I can just see a space station city, with an elevator that take you into space and as soon as you get there the lighting changes and the sky becomes the majestic far reaches of space. Curious as to if there were any places other than the All in all Shade City although limited in its places outside of the center building, was an enjoyable experience and is a place that would be perfect for social events.

Coming Soon: Pictures!

Hello everyone, and welcome to my humble abode! Through this blog I will be documenting my life in Blue Mars and my experiences through all of it's cities and wondrous areas. Consider this a journal of sorts, although I do hope to have the occasional interviews and reviews I hope you all enjoy the reads that I will be providing here soon, and dont forget to tell your friends!